Anyone who's read my stories knows my love of all things Star Wars. Today, we lost a true icon, the first of the core trio of Star Wars heroes to pass, Carrie Fisher. Though she may be best remembered for the unforgettable metal bikini from Return of the Jedi, don't forget everything before that. To get to that point, we had to go through over two movies of Princess Leia staring down Darth Vader, watching her home planet destroyed before her very eyes, grabbing the gun from Han Solo and blasting a group of stormtroopers with it, calling Chewbacca a "walking carpet" to his face and living to tell about it, being the last evacuee from the rebel base on Hoth, and disguising herself as a bounty hunter to rescue her future husband from the hideout of his hated enemy, Jabba the Hutt. Princess Leia was a princess you did not want to mess with. She was not just beautiful, she was tough as nails. You piss her off, you've made yourself a terrible enemy. But once she's in your corner, she'll fight to the death for you. Metal bikini? Memorable, to be sure. But there was so much more to her than that.
Just the same, there was much more to Carrie Fisher than Star Wars. She had her struggles in life, particularly with mental illness. And she had film successes outside the Star Wars realm. "When Harry met Sally," and of course her most insanely fun role in "The Blue Brothers." I mean the woman got to use a flamethrower AND an assault rifle in that film! Just sick! But what you may not know is that she nearly died during the filming of "The Blues Brothers," choking on food. Were it not for the timely intervention of Dan Akroyd performing the Heimlich maneuver, she would not have been able to reprise her role as Princess Leia. Though she is gone too soon, learning of this occurrence made me very glad to know we were blessed to get as much of her work as we did. And, to paraphrase Yoda, mourn her we should not. Miss her we should not. Instead, celebrate the things she did right in her life. Wishing she was alive again accomplishes nothing. Focusing on her shortcomings accomplishes nothing. Death is a natural part of life, and life is always something to be celebrated.